* Junta leader to address ASEAN summit
* Opposition unity government seeks end to violence
* In-person summit shows level of regional concern
(Adds summit meeting begins)
By Fanny Potkin and Nilufar Rizki
JAKARTA, April 24 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian leaders began
a crisis meeting on Myanmar on Saturday aiming to persuade
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who led the military takeover
that sparked turmoil in his country, to forge a path to end the
violence.
The gathering of leaders of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta is the first coordinated
international effort to ease the crisis in Myanmar, an
impoverished country that neighbours China, India and Thailand.
Myanmar is part of the 10-nation ASEAN.
With participants attending in person despite the pandemic,
Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on Friday that
the summit reflected the "deep concern about the situation in
Myanmar and ASEAN's determination to help Myanmar get out of
this delicate situation".
It's unusual for the leader of a military government in
Myanmar to attend an ASEAN summit - usually the country has been
represented by a lower-ranked officer or a civilian. Min Aung
Hlaing was seen disembarking after arriving on a special flight
from Naypyitaw, the Myanmar capital, according to footage on the
official video channel of Indonesia's presidential palace.
Leaders' cars later entered the ASEAN Secretariat in the
Indonesian capital, the venue for the meeting.
About two dozen protesters gathered nearby, beating pots and
pans and holding signs saying "Democracy for Myanmar" and "We
stand against the military coup". Police quickly moved them on.
Several protests were also held in Myanmar's main cities but
there were no immediate reports of violence.
Diplomats and government officials who asked not to be named
said many ASEAN leaders want a commitment from Min Aung Hlaing
to restrain his security forces, who monitors say have killed
745 people since a mass civil disobedience movement emerged to
challenge his Feb. 1 coup against the elected government of Aung
San Suu Kyi.
"This is what Myanmar must avoid: geographical, political,
social and national disintegration into warring ethnic parts,"
said Philippines Foreign Secretary Teddy Locsin on Twitter.
"Myanmar on its own must find peace again."
Min Aung Hlaing, on his first foreign trip since the coup,
will address the summit later on Saturday along with each of the
participants before more informal discussions begin, said three
sources familiar with procedures.
The summit will be held in a "retreat" format, with leaders
sitting in a circle and only one or two officials assisting each
one, said Usana Berananda, a Thai foreign ministry official.
PUSH FOR DIALOGUE
ASEAN officials and diplomats have also worked on an
initiative to send a humanitarian aid mission to Myanmar and
appoint an envoy to encourage dialogue between the junta and the
ousted lawmakers and armed ethnic groups who have formed an
opposition National Unity Government (NUG).
The leaders of Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia,
Cambodia and Brunei are at the meeting, along with the foreign
ministers of Laos, Thailand and the Philippines.
ASEAN has a policy of consensus decision-making and
non-interference in the affairs of its members, which include
Myanmar.
While that makes it difficult to tackle contentious issues,
the body is seen by the United Nations, China and the United
States as best placed to deal with the junta directly.
"We in the @UN Security Council eagerly await the outcome
of the @ASEAN meeting on Burma, which deserves serious and
immediate attention," said U.S Ambassador to the United Nations
Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Twitter.
Still, some analysts warned of the dangers of giving
legitimacy to the junta by inviting its leader to the summit.
"Formal representation of the Tatmadaw (Myanmar military) at
the ASEAN summit, without giving any concessions in return,
including first and foremost a commitment to stop the bloodshed,
is not constructive," Huong Le Thu, of the Australian Strategic
Policy Initiative, wrote in an analysis of the ASEAN meeting.
A spokesman for the NUG, which is not attending the summit,
told Reuters the group had "been in contact with ASEAN leaders".
Dr. Sasa, an international envoy for the NUG, who goes by
one name, said ASEAN should insist the military stops killing
civilians, halts the bombing of villages in ethnic minority
areas, releases political prisoners and hands power to the NUG.